Wednesday, April 19, 2017

To add to our earlier post on Australia imposing stricter visa rules, we also read that New Zealand is going down the same nationalist and exclusionist route. The New Zealand government has announced plans to tighten access to skilled work visas to help get Kiwis into jobs ahead of migrants. Employees in seasonal work such as fruit picking would also have their visas shortened to the length of time they were needed in the country

The new measures are aimed at controlling the level of migration to New Zealand, amid growing concern about housing shortages and overcrowding in New Zealand cities.

Last year more than 70,000 people migrated to New Zealand, according to Statistics New Zealand, the majority of them choosing to settle in Auckland, now home to nearly 1.5 million people.

New Zealand’s immigration minister Michael Woodhouse said: “The government has a Kiwis-first approach to immigration.”

New Zealand’s general election is scheduled for September, with immigration and housing affordability set to be top of the agenda.

The changes include raising the income threshold to be classed as a skilled migrant to nearly NZ$50,000 (£27,500) a year, classifying anyone earning NZ$73,000 and above as high-skilled and restricting work visas to low-skilled workers to three years, after which a mandatory stand-down period will be enforced before workers can re-apply.